Tensions are rising between Montreal’s residents and unhoused people. Is cohabitation possible? [Video]

A controversial homeless shelter located just steps from an elementary school in Montreal’s Saint-Henri neighbourhood is underscoring the problems with social cohabitation in multiple communities across the city. 

Maison Benoît Labre has drawn the ire of parents and local residents, who say the facility has been harming the character of the high-traffic, eclectic neighbourhood since opening in April across the street from the Atwater Market. 

They say they’ve witnessed open drug use, aggressive behaviour and sexual conduct from frequenters of the day centre, including when children are around. The back door of the centre borders a park used by Victor-Rousselot elementary school. 

Last week, the Quebec government agreed to Montreal’s request to relocate some of the day services offered at the shelter “to a more suitable location,” after months of the city defending the facility. 

So what makes a neighbourhood “suitable” for resources to help vulnerable populations dealing with chronic homelessness or addiction? And can residents …